John Wall enters his seventh season with Washington (0-0), once again the focal point of the team’s offense, one that sputtered last year in failing to make it to the postseason and finishing in tenth place in the conference. The veteran brings with him 2015-16 averages of 19.9 points, 10.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds. Joining him this year in a back up role for Marcin Gortat will be Ian Mahinmi, ex of the Indiana Pacers, who finished last year with a 9.3-point, 7.1-rebound average. Health will be a major factor in determining how much success the club enjoys this season, particularly in the case of the injury-plagued Bradley Beal, who started only 35 games last season. After falling far short in their summer courting of Kevin Durant, the organization will be turning to new head coach Scott Brooks to take them to the next level. Washington will meet Atlanta again in eight days at Verizon Center.
The Hawks finished last season as the fourth seed in the East, but after several years as one of the elite teams in the conference, now need to quickly get comfortable with new roster dynamics in order to remain there after some key offseason talent loss. The last time the unit missed the Playoff was in 2007, and in order to ensure that doesn’t happen next spring with the departure of Al Horford to the Boston Celtics, the team braintrust secured the services of Dwight Howard in the offseason. Howard adds to a cadre of veterans and is coming off a quietly productive year in Houston where he hauled in an average of 11.8 boards per outing, in addition to 13.7 points. That number is likely to increase without the presence of a James Harden. Guard Dennis Schroder makes the move from reservist to starter this season, having missed only one game in 2015-16, producing 11 points and 4.4 dimes per night. The team has a relatively soft schedule to start the season, with their first real challenge coming on November 8th at Cleveland.
